Can't Support Petitioning For Pelto

Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant

Former state representative Jonathan Pelto, right, collects another petition signature from John Johnson in Storrs on June 11 in his quest to qualify for the ballot for the gubernatorial election in November.

Former state representative Jonathan Pelto, right, collects another petition signature from John Johnson in Storrs on June 11 in his quest to qualify for the ballot for the gubernatorial election in November. (Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)

BETTY GALLO | OP-EDThe Hartford Courant

I am an advocate for access to the election ballot. I was a plaintiff in a federal court case where one of the issues was easier access to public financing for third-party candidates. But, I would never sign a petition for someone to get on the ballot whose campaign I didn't support. I will not sign Jonathan Pelto's petition, and urge you not to either.

First, what has Jonathan Pelto done in the last four years to make the lives of the people of Connecticut better? He wrote an often misleading online blog about one issue, education. He was a political consultant for anyone who would pay him. He worked against workers who do some of the most difficult and important jobs in Connecticut; they take care of people with disabilities, the elderly, the sick in their homes or institutions.

While in stark contrast, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy never wavered from his progressive principles. Gov. Malloy has always been willing to publicly speak to those values — whether it was same-sex marriage or the death penalty — even long before they were popular. That is conviction; that is leadership.

The governor has made the lives of our most vulnerable residents significantly better. He is a stronger leader on issues of social justice, housing, health care, early childhood education, anti-gun violence and working families than any governor who served during my 37 years as an advocate before the General Assembly.

Under the Malloy administration, there have been 1,000 school readiness pre-kindergarten spaces created. The governor's goal is to have expanded school readiness spaces by 4,000 in June 2019.

He ensured access to health care to more than 50,000 people by adopting the Medicaid extension. Twenty-four states have denied their lowest-income residents totally federally funded health care.

The governor showed strong and compassionate leadership in the face of the horrific tragedy that took place in Newtown. He told parents their children would not ever be coming home from school, then set out to ensure that other parents don't have to face this unbearable loss whether their children go to school in Westport or Bridgeport. Since Connecticut's passage of the most comprehensive anti-gun violence legislation in the nation, we have seen death rate from gun violence fall from 115 gun homicides in 2012 to 71 gun homicide deaths in 2013, the lowest level since 2004.

Gov. Malloy made it his mission to ensure that people who work can support their families. He introduced a state earned income tax credit, one of the highest in the nation. President Ronald Reagan called the earned income tax credit a "sweeping victory for fairness" and "perhaps the biggest anti-poverty program in our history." The governor also proposed and helped pass a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour so that a full-time job pays enough to pay the rent.

The first two elected officials to testify for marriage for same-sex couples were then-Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and state Comptroller Nancy Wyman. Those early hearings set Connecticut on the path toward full equality for same sex couples.

The governor introduced our medical marijuana law and has overseen the implementation of one of the nation's safest programs for the distribution of medicinal marijuana. This bill had passed the legislature before, only to be vetoed by a moderate Republican governor.

When Gov. Malloy took office, he faced a deficit of $3.7 billion, yet his budget did not make significant cuts in programs for low-income families. Under his tenure, towns' funding for education has increased. He made the income tax more progressive and most of the new revenue came from high-income earners. During his four years, he has pledged to end homelessness for veterans by 2015 and provided $750 million in housing financing to provide homes for thousands of people and created thousands of jobs.

These are a few examples of why I support Gov. Malloy's re-election and am asking people not to sign Jonathan Pelto's petitions.

Betty Gallo of West Hartford is a lobbyist who specializes in social justice issues.